


Actions Speak Louder Than Words

by dapperghost



Category: Futurama
Genre: M/M, and this is on mobile so lets hope it goes well, dont judge me, frender is good, i havent written in a while, ive been needing more frender in my life ok, this is gay, v gay
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-08
Updated: 2016-08-08
Packaged: 2018-08-07 10:37:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,825
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7711750
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dapperghost/pseuds/dapperghost
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Bender had always believed that humans were just naturally affectionate with the people they cared about. So why did this feel so different?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Actions Speak Louder Than Words

**Author's Note:**

> So I got into Futurama a while ago, and I decided I wanted to write something for it. Not to mention there has been a serious lack of Frender in the fanfic community. I had to fix that. Sorry for like...never posting anything. I get so many ideas but I never post them. Sorry about that.

It started with just a few small touches. A pat on the back here, an arm around the shoulder there. Nothing that could be taken as more than a merely platonic show of affection. Although, it wasn't as though the robot could tell the difference. To him, all humans were overly affectionate, cuddly meatbags. It didn't matter one way or another what they did, as long as it benefited him in some way.

As time went on, the physical contact became more frequent. Movie nights would often wind up with a dozy Fry leaning against his best friend, or even laying on top of him in rare instances. Pats on the back slowly shifted into hugs, and warm hands would linger on cold metal slightly longer than necessary. Bender continued to convince himself that all of this was normal. Humans were just naturally cuddly creatures, right? 

It was on New Year's Eve when he finally began to doubt his (flawless) logic. Fry had had a little too much to drink that evening, and somehow it had turned him into a human koala. He had been clinging onto Bender for most of the night, babbling about this and that, despite the robots countless efforts to pry the human off. Not that he really cared, much. After all, if he really wanted to, he could remove the other with ease. However, part of him actually enjoyed the attention, although he would never admit to that. 

As the clock crept closer to midnight, Bender began to have a sneaking suspicion that Fry's behavior wasn't quite within the normal limits of that so-called "human platonic affection." After all, none of his other friends were this touchy feely with him, or even with each other. Of course, he could blame it on the alcohol currently coursing through the human's veins (alcohol was proven to make humans do stupid things, after all), but that wouldn't explain any of the other things that Fry did. Like how the human would grab his metallic hand when he was scared, or how he would wrap his best friend up in a warm embrace in times of excitement, or even how he would just lean against the other when he was sleepy. It was all so confusing for the robot. 

Bender glanced down at Fry once more, wondering what exactly it all meant. What exactly was Fry doing? What did all of this affection even mean? Should he even care? He supposed he could ask the other. After all, in his experience, alcohol was like a natural truth serum in humans. However, a part of him was unsure he wanted to know the answer. What if Fry was actually just playing him for a fool? What if the human was just manipulating him through the use of his own artificial emotions? Bender wasn't sure he could handle that kind of pain.

He sighed, realizing there would be only one way to find out for sure. He nudged Fry gently, with the arm that wasn't being clung to. The human had apparently dozed off in his drunken state, content to just lean against the other. It was sort of cute, in a way. 

As Fry woke up from his impromptu nap, he looked over at the robot, and grinned lopsidedly. "Eyy, 'sup Bender? Whaddid ya need?" 

"Well I was just thinkin' about something. No big deal," Bender replied, glancing away suddenly. 

"Hmm? What were ya thinkin about? Does it involve me?" 

"Well...uh...actually yeah. Why the hell are you so cuddly with me? Like you're always clinging to me and leaning on me and junk. It's weird. Even for a disgusting meatbag like you." Bender grimaced slightly after he spoke, realizing he probably should be a little more careful about how he phrased things. Then again, to the drunken idiot that was clinging to him, it probably didn't matter.

"Huh? Oh! Well....it's cuz I like you, obviously."

"Well, duh. Of course you like me, dumdum. Everyone does! Not liking me would be like me not liking booze. It just doesn't work! I mean like...why are you more cuddly than normal people? Is something wrong with ya? Should I take you to see one of those doctors or something?" As Bender said this, he began to poke and prod at the human with his free hand. 

Fry frowned, furrowing his brow slightly in concentration as he removed his arms from the other in an attempt to swipe the offending appendage away. "Noooo...It's nothin like that. Unless you call bein in love something wrong." He frowned more after he stated this, realizing exactly what he had admitted to. "Oh no....I've said too much! Shhshhh you didn't hear anything..." He began to pat Bender's cheek, hoping drunkenly that it would distract the robot.

Bender stopped with his poking and prodding to stare at the other. If he were human, his mouth would probably be hanging open right now. But as it were, he settled with giving the other the most shocked expression he could manage. "You're....in love? With me?" 

The patting ceased as Fry drew his hand away, moving his gaze away from his friend. "Maybe...I dunno...It's all been kinda confusing and junk and I didn't really wanna tell you or anything in case you would hate me or something...But I really do like you...A lot." He was trying his hardest to keep his words from slurring as he spoke, and a dejected expression took over his face after the confession was finished. 

Bender snapped out of his shock, processing the words his best friend was using. Of course! It all made sense now. Honestly, Bender felt sort of like an idiot for not realizing it before. He really should have known. And he felt even more like an idiot for not realizing his own feelings in the matter. Then again he usually ignored his unwanted or uncomfortable feelings, shoving them deep down into his processors until they would later resurface in a violent outburst of emotion. So it was only natural that he would ignore such an uncomfortable feeling as affection, or even love. However, now that Fry had confessed, the emotion had somehow managed to make it's way to the very front of his processor. It felt like all the affection and love he had held for his friend and hidden away in the back of his mind had hit him all at once, and he couldn't help but give the robot equivalent of a smile. It was absolutely disgusting. Why the fuck did he have to care so much for this gross tube of flesh beside him? He was supposed to hate all humans. But...he could never bring himself to hate this one, he realized. Not once had he felt even the slightest bit of hatred towards Fry. It was surprising, and weird, and absolutely foreign to the robot. And yet it was not completely unwelcome, either.

It was then that Bender realized he should actually say something, seeing as Fry was starting to look rather anxious. He cleared his throat, hoping maybe he could get rid of the weird fluttery feeling in his system in the process. He then began, "I could never hate you, idiot. You mean way too much to me. And that's sayin' a lot coming from a guy as great as me. And just between you and me, I might...possibly....maybe...like you a lot too." He glanced away quickly, suddenly embarrassed by all the mushy words that came from his voice modulator. Jeeze where did that even come from?

Fry blinked in surprise at the other, before smiling slightly. "You really mean that?" 

Bender turned back to look at the other once more. "Yeah. I do. I think you're great. I mean...not as great as me, of course. But still...You're pretty darn great in my opinion. You're actually the only human I can more than just tolerate. And that's saying something. Somewhere along the line, hell if I know where, I fell for you, pork pie. And I hate you for that. But I definitely don't hate you. You know?" He glanced away again, slightly annoyed at himself for being so goddamn mushy. "Anyways, enough with all the gooey stuff. It's almost midnight, according to the clock over there. Which means it's almost a whole new year." 

Fry glanced over at the clock, squinting at it in order to attempt to read the numbers with his blurry vision. He gave up after a few seconds, deciding instead to lean against Bender once more. 

Bender chuckled at the other's futile attempts, before speaking. "It's 11:58, you drunk idiot."

"Oh...Alright." Fry frowned again, thinking for a moment. "Hey can we uh...do that thing?"

Bender glanced down at the other with a slightly confused expression on his face. "What thing? There's a lotta things I can do. You gotta specify, meatbag. I need details."

"Uh...you know. The thing where you kiss someone on midnight of New Year. To like...make it official or whatever." 

The robot rose part of his optical box in order to mimic a raised brow, before smirking. "Well, I'd hate for the year not to be official cuz we didn't kiss. So why not?" 

Once the clock struck midnight, Bender pulled the drunk human in for a kiss. It was slightly awkward at first, but soon they both managed to get used to it, and electricity danced between them. Soft lips pressed against electric metal, and for a moment it felt like everything had stopped. Fry smelled mostly of booze, but so did Bender. It felt natural. Wonderful. Amazing. As they pulled apart, they looked at each other thoughtfully. 

Fry was the first to speak, slightly breathless still. "So uh...What does this mean for us? Now that we uh...both know we have feelings or whatever..."

Bender rolled his optics before speaking. "Jeeze, Corkscew. Way to ruin the moment." He sighed. "Honestly though, I have no idea. Plus you're kinda absolutely wasted right now. So maybe it might be a good idea to wait a bit on the whole...Talking thing. Let's just kinda...enjoy it for now." 

Fry shrugged. "Alright. Sounds good ta me." He leaned against the other once more, letting out a yawn. "You're really great. You know that?" 

"Psh. Of course I know that. I only say it like...every day." However, deep down, this was the first time he actually believed it. And all because Fry was the one who had said it. 

Speaking of Fry, it seemed as though the human had finally fallen asleep once more. Bender smiled slightly, looking over the other's features. "You know...You're pretty great yourself, flesh tube..." he replied softly, as to not wake the other up. This was gonna be a good year. He could feel it.

**Author's Note:**

> I finished this at like 4 AM and jfc I'm tired so I'm very sorry if there's any mistakes or it isn't any good.


End file.
